What is Basic Cyber Hygiene? Donna and David talk about it in episode 301 of the Help Me With HIPAA Podcast, both personal hygiene and cyber hygiene. Really, they are just concerned about cyber hygiene but they do explain it using some personal concepts to really drive the importance home.

Personal hygiene matters, not only for the people around you but for you as well. Think about your teeth. If you only brushed them once a month, it would not be long before you are in a dentist chair getting your teeth removed because they have voids, cracks, and are just plain falling out. This is where the bacteria moves in and guess what? You can die from it. Cyber hygiene works the same way. If you don’t have a maintenance plan to routinely and regularly review and clean your devices the cyber criminals will take notice and find a way into your systems.

Where do you start to create a plan for proper cyber hygiene? First, you need to know what you have to protect. Create an inventory or your devices and software, your assets. Then evaluate what would happen to your business if this equipment and/or data wasn’t available to you or your patients or customers. Once you do this, next you will need to figure out how to protect your valuable assets. Also, don’t forget that it is important to ensure your employees are protecting your data and devices if they are doing any remote working. With the way the world has changed in the last 18 months, it is more important than ever to ensure that your employees are properly trained to identify and report potential problems as soon as possible.

Listen to this podcast to learn more about Cyber Hygiene and David will also explain what a sniffer is all about. Just a hint, it is not someone hired to make sure your employees are all wearing deodorant.